Fire-escape.



P. VESCOVI & E. GOBATTI.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4,1913. 1,172,753. Patented Feb. 22,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES eeve/M rm: COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM 4:0,, WASHINGTON, D. c.

' P. VESCOVI & E. GOBATTI.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-4. 1913.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN VEN TOR$ w fi KW4M A TTORNE Y WITNESSES THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH. co, WASHINGTO D. c.

P. VESCOVI 61 E. GOBATTI.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATlON FILED AUG.4, 1913.

Patented 1 eb.22,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

IN VEN TORJ,

PETER VESCOVI AND EDMOND GOBATTI, OF PUEBLO, COLORADO.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Application filed August 4, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, PETER Vnscovr and Emronn GOBA'ITI, citizens of the United States, residing at Pueblo, Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in an automatic fire escape, the objectsof which are; let, to provide a compact fire escape so adjusted by levers that the weight of the person using the same will automatically regulate the speed, and inwhich a metal tape sustains the load; 2nd, to provide an automatic fire escape with safety hand brake;

3rd, to provide a fire escape portable and attachable to any building; and 4th, to provide a device in which the brake is applied to the tape as the same is unwound.

We attain these objects by the mechanisms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the device looking at it or gewise; Fig. 2 is a front view; Fig.

I 3 is a cross-sectional view of the device through its broader dimension; Fig. A is a perpendicular cross-sectional View through the narrow dimension of the device; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the part of the deviceshowing the application of a modified form of the levers and brake; Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the modified form of the lever; Fig. 7 is a side and a front view of the brake lever; and Fig. 8 is a side and a front view of the friction plates.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several drawings.

A tape 1 is attached to the spindle 1 of a spool 3. This spool 3 with the tape wound thereon, is included within the casing 5 and the spindle is turnable in bearings in the casing 5. The free end of the tape 1 is provided with the loop 2 for the attachment of a hook or other means to fasten to a building or a fixture. A yoke 6 1s provided with arms 13 by means of which the same may be attached to the casing 5 by rivets or other means and these arms furnish proper support for the yoke 6. A slot 20 in the lower part of the yoke 6 permits the passage of the tape 1, and a roller 21 is disposed on one side of this slot so as to prevent friction of the tape against the edge of the slot. The slot 20" is provided in the top of the yoke 6. Bosses 7 are for the pur- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

Serial No. 782,871.

pose of attaching the levers 8. The boss 19 is screw-threaded in which operates the screw threaded portion 18 of the brake screw 17. The handle 2-4: is provided to operate the brake screw 17. The friction plates 11 are so constructed as to retain the friction material 12 lying adjacent to the tape 1 and are placed on the inside of said yoke on each side of said tape and are movable. On each pivot 9 a lever 8 is attached having a bar lt at the end thereof, transversely to the arm of the lever 8, and each bar is approximately as long as the device is thick. A cable 15 is attached at each end of each bar lat and passes through the holes 25 in the casing 5 and arms 13 and thence through the holes 26 between each end of the spindle 3 and the face 5 of the casing 5. 16 is attached at the lower part of the cables 15, an end in each cable. A crank 23 is attachable to the shaft 4, by screw threaded means, or any other well known means. The brake screw 17 is provided with a handle 24. A plate 5 incloses the device on the front side and on the back of the casing, or it may be made so that one of the sides is integral with the drum and the other separate, and the holes 22 are provided for rivets, or screw means to attach the plates. The upper portion of this plate, although not so shown, in the drawings, may be made to extend to form a hood, completely inclosing the extended ends of the levers 8. The slot 7 on each side of the yoke 6 permits the levers 8 to operate through the same. Bars 27 are attached to the front and back of the device near to the top of the yoke 6, and the same serve as hand-holds.

Having described the parts of this device, it is proper to explain that any hook or at- The loop taching means may be fixed in the loop 2 y of the tape, and that any harness, belt, or other means for holding the person, may be attached to the loop 16. In this device it is found that a metal tape 1 is preferable to any other form for use in furnishing a means of sustaining the load as it affords the opportunity to apply brakes which cannot be applied to a cable or other similar forms so successfully as to a metal tape, and the use of metal tape affords some protection against flames, which encounter the device when it is in use.

The device being attached toa window or any other part of the building, a person provided with a harness, belt, or other means to hold him, may attach such holding means by hook or other means to the loop 16. The weight of a person so suspended from the loop 16 is immediately applied to the levers S, which in turn press upon the brake plates 11, and force the friction material 12 against the metal tape; and when these levers have been adjusted so that any given weight will permit the device slowly to descend along the tape as it passes betweenthe friction 1naterial any different weight compensates in friction by the action of'the levers 8, so that a given speed for a given weight being once ascertained, the weight may be increased or decreased and the samespeed would be attained. In addition, the brake-screw 17 may be operated so that one of the plates 11 is driven toward the other, and the device held from descending or a stop made, when desired; and this screw-brake also holds the device stationarv while the har ness holding a person is being connected with the device.-

If it is desired to retain the device for the use of others, the device may be-inverted by v attaching the loop 16 to the window or building and the harness holding the person descending to the ground being attached. to the. hook in the free end of the tape," and a person remaining in the building or room may let the other down, and after the descent, by means of the crank 23 mayrewind the tape and let down other persons in similar manner, and finally the person remaining above may rewind the tape and reverse the device to the position shown in the drawings and descend with the device. The tape could then be broken and the device again supplied with metal tape.

The handles 27 are provided to be used in the'ev nt that the brake levers cause the device to descend too slowly since the person using it by lifting some of his weight on these handles will release the pressure upon the brake plates andthe device will descend more rapidly.

It is found that the preferable method of the principle of the invention it has been.

found that the device may be operated. by a modification of the levers as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The brake plates 11 are shortened in this modification, and the brackets 6 hold them in position. So far as the plates 11 and the friction material 12 are concerned, they are used in the same manner as in the first and foregoing description, by means of the brake screw 17. The brake-levers 8 are the same in this construction as in the description of the former lovers, with the part 14 for attaching the cable and the pivot 9 except that the face of the lever 10 is broadened to the width of the tape 1, and this broadened face 10 of this lever operates directly against the tape.

erative on the interior thereof said metal tape passing between said friction blocks, a lever on either side of said yoke pivotally attached therein for operating said friction blocks, weight sustaining and attaching means attached to said levers, and a screw threaded bar for operatingone of said friction blocks, which said yoke is attached to said metal casing and bears all strain in op eration of said device, all substantially as set forth.

PETER VESCOVI. EDMOND GOBATTT. Witnesses:

ARTHUR F; RICHIE, MAUDE S. Enema.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

lVhile it is not shown in the drawings, friction material 

